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From the crazy White Ward jazz-post-black metal experience I go to something I feel right at home with. It’s time to review one of the technical brutal death metal greats, Origin. A band which has given us mortals some of the best brutal techdeath that’s ever existed since their formation in 1997. Since then the band has released one EP and Unparalleled Universe will be the seventh full-length release, something very few techdeath bands have even done actually. With heavy hitting albums like Antithesis and Omnipresent fresh in mind how does Unparalleled Universe stand next to them?

Have to be said Origin still got it, even seven albums and 20 years into their career. However I lack that Wrath of Vishnu, The Aftermath and All Things Dead feel to it. It’s a good album but next to a discography like Origins they almost slay themself. I always hate reviewing albums like this in all honesty. When a band has a really good discography should they get punished for releasing something not on the very very top? I mean if this was a debut or even a sophomore album I would say something along the lines of “omg this is one of the best bands that will tear the future apart!!!”. I don’t know, this is a freaking great album but knowing what Origin has done in the past I know I can expect more. A great album doesn’t cut it this year within brutal death metal, not with Dying Fetus, Broken Hope, Decrepit Birth and Suffocation getting releases out. Mithridatic, Dajjal, Burden of Prescience and Origins longest track as of yet Unequivocal are the highlights of this album and especially Unequivocal makes me go all headbang mode and presents Origin in top form. It’s a good album and any Origin fan should get it. As I said they still got the touch. However I know there is more brutality to be unleashed from them, some songs are just too soft for my liking to make this a real heavy hitter as an Origin album should be.

Unparalleled Universe is out now through Agonia Records in EU and Nuclear Blast in the US. With this review I am also bringing back the score scale, this time instead of a 1-10 scale it will be a 1-5 one. 5 being the highest grade and 1 the lowest.

Well this has come to be an interesting find. Khragkh, a black metal horde from Belarus who formed in 2013 contacted me a few weeks ago and being the lover of kvlt stuff I obviously had to check it out. What I found was a very atmospheric and spiritual wicked type of black metal. The vocals really caught my interest, the tormented growls is great for the music Khragkh plays and it brings out the truly haunting and suffering personal struggles they sing about. In many ways this music reminds me of the works from Shining and Funeral Mist (I know those two bands are quite different), which isn’t something many bands out there manage to do. It’s raw and primitive style adding horrifying samples (the cat sounds at the start of Jadłovy bukiet for example) made by great musicians makes this a debut album you do not want to miss.

The two closing songs of the album are to me the two best ones, Ersatz and Crom. Lech. Mań. – Kruh. Kamień. Čalaviek. I do recommend listening to the whole album though in order to get the full experience from their seven stories on human aspects like spiritual weakness and religion. Khragkh’s debut album Ersatz is out now as a digital release and coming later this Summer as a physical release from Der Schwarze Tod.

My first listen to Gates No Longer Shut was an interesting one. I didn’t quite get it at first and thought it wasn’t my kind of music but it grew on me. So much that I had to listen to it again, and again, until eventually I was there. I’d joined that realm I recently saw in a horror movie called Satanic (cool idea but movie was only decent) and Misanthropic Rage had taken me there. Much like the experience I got from experimental and atmospheric black metal acts Eldjudnir and Veilburner gave me last year I find this disturbing and horrifying but yet it draws me in, one playthrough at the time.

It’s not too common I give albums a review from 2016 but this was such an interesting release I just had to share it with you. Every song feels a bit different. Be it the sense of horror, psychedelic or intense evil Misanthropic Rage gives it to you. I don’t think this is an album for everyone but if you did enjoy my reviews of Eldjudnir, Miserist and Veilburner or the more known acts that play something similar like Deathspell Omega and Dodheimsgard then this is right up your alley. Also how many times do you listen to a progressive black metal album right?

Misanthropic Rage’s full-length debut album Gates No Longer Shut is out now through Godz ov War Productions.

Lets start with saying I am very glad Bloodgod themselves contacted me as otherwise I would probably have missed this independent release. Bloodgod is a Dutch three-man outfit that features members from Disquiet, Hymir and Neustros Derechos. Being from these bands you get members who have backgrounds in different genres. Namely black, death and trash metal. This is also where the bands strength lays, they fuse together different genres to give their own take on death metal (similar to what Post Pulse have done). Main influences I would say are death and trash metal, sometimes I think their songs sound like old Trivium albums (which is a really good thing mind you).

The flow of the songs, change of tempo and vocals (minus the clean singing) is what takes me back to, as an example, Trivium’s Ascendancy album. It just seems to have the same kind of attitude as they did back then. That said they aren’t a Trivium rip off or anything like that, I just find bits and pieces that reminds me of them from their early stages. That together with some Machine Head, DevilDriver and Lamb of God then you get a rough idea on Bloodgod’s sound. Definitely music a lot of metalheads will enjoy and that Bloodgod can continue building on. Only thing I really got to comment on in a negative sense is that the two songs Valar Morghulis and Satan’s Smile sound too similar for my taste (especially the intro).

All in all this is a sweet EP, 18 minutes of enjoyable metal that can act as a teaser of what Bloodgod are capable of when it’s time to work on their full-length debut. The foundation is there and it will be interesting to hear what they come up with next. Catharsis is out now as an independent release.

Ah Entrails, a band I always know what to expect from. Solid old school death metal with crushing riffs. For those of you that don’t know the band has a quite interesting history. Entrails was formed in 1990 but never actually released anything as they were never satisfied with their demo recordings so the band eventually died out. However in 2008 the guitarist Jimmy Lundqvist resurrected the band and in 2010 (20 years after their original formation) Entrails debut album Tales from the Morgue was finally released. Since then the band has been very active and released some killer albums with World Inferno being the bands fifth full-length album.

So how does World Inferno stack against their solid discography of death metal madness? It has to be said Entrails definitely knows how to create death metal by now. Just like their past albums this is a most have for fans of old school death metal. It’s a hard hitting and soul ravaging tank coming at you. Entrails have always had a nack to get those catchy tunes going which you will find yourself singing along to the course already on the opening track World Inferno.

It’s hard to say if this album is better or worse than the rest because, just like with their older albums, this is simply solid. They deliver what you expect of them, nothing more nothing less and they don’t have to with the band being a go to for many death metal fans. World Inferno is an album you will need to grab if you want some riff friendly music that is sure to make you bang your heads. If you’ve liked their past albums you will have a good time with World Inferno as well that’s for sure. Favorite tracks on World Inferno are Condemned to the Grave, Serial Murder (Death Squad), Insane Slaughter and Suffer.

Created in 2014 by the duo Slobodan Stupar (guitar, bass, drums and backing vocals) and Ivan Kovačević Kova (vocals) this Croatian death metal band were quick to release their full-length debut Misanthrope the year after. Since then the duo have worked on I Become Death, an album that hopefully put Croatia on the death metal map this year.

You want the aggression from punk and death metal joined together in a wonderful symbiosis? Then this is what you need in your life. I’d heard from a few people this was a really good death metal album but already on the opening track I Become Death I am stunned. This isn’t just really good this is a death metal masterpiece! I am getting my brain put into a blender from these crusing riffs and sheer brutal force Slobodan and Ivan hits me with. You hear their influences from the old school death metal sound, like the masters Entombed or Obituary, with the groove on tracks like Jebem vas u usta ladna and Homo homini lupus est (yes they do have songs in their own language). Hell they even manage to fit in a sweet slow paced intro on Tombcrawler just for the sake of it. Their influences doesn’t stop there though! I dare say I hear a bit of Aborted, Anaal Nathrakh and even grindcore a la Carcass. Meaning this is some heavy shit and you should get prepared before listening. Not just with the standard beer but you need a bucket next to you as your brain will come out of your ears.

I’ve been insanly lucky this week. I’ve not only found one but two contenders for album of the year! Hereza is not just one of the best death metal albums this year but one of the best albums this year full stop. It’s brutal, raw, full of headbangning hits and mixes a lot of metal styles with perfection. HerezA has quickly got themselves a new fan and put Croatia on the metal map for me. My favorite tracks, this week have been hell choosing those mind you, would have to be I Become Death, Full Moon Slaughter and Tombcrawler. Hereza’s sophomore album I Become Death is out now through Godz ov War Productions.

With a lineup consisting of members from the likes of Hung and The Man-Eating Tree you knew this was an interesting project seeing the different metal styles they come from. Together they create death metal that is quite unlike what you’re probably used to by now. In many ways this feels rather unique in the death metal genre and I am sure that’s what Post Pulse have strived for. Everything seems carefully planned out, songwriting, solos, drums, vocals, mixing everything is hitting the right spots at the right times.

It’s very rythm and groove based, just like death metal should be. Less filthy though than I personally like it but that’s ok I am actually quite happy to hear someone try something new and not the old school death metal sound that has been revitalized (which I love by the way). Every song on the album got something different to offer the listener, which I am sure has to do with all the metal styles that’s represented within the band. What all the songs got in common is the aggression and groove that never slows down to keep that red line accross this concept album. The concept album’s story by the way! Halls of the Damned is about one man’s struggle with life given a unique set of personal circumstances. This is shown throughout and also adds value to why Post Pulse plays such mixed styles.

I am quite surprised with Halls of the Damned. Here I was expecting a old school death metal album, instead I get something new and fresh and I like it! Songs like Final Goodbye and Frozen Heart are perfect examples on the bands style and also my favorites. Kind funny that this is the first time since, well probably forever, I had a hard time writing in the “for fans of” section since I personally haven’t heard much that sound like this (which is why it might be more off than ever). That is a good thing and very rare today, which alone should be enough for you to give this album a try.

Post Pulse debut album Halls of the Damned is out now through Inverse Records.